Generally, cosmetic containers are used to carry cosmetic materials. Such a cosmetic container has a container housing accommodating cosmetic material therein, and an outer lid openably and closably hinged to a rear end of the container housing for covering the entire upper side of the container housing. The cosmetic container has a general structure which includes a hook mechanism disposed between the front ends of the container housing and the outer lid for keeping the outer lid closed, and a button projecting from the front end of the container housing for releasing the hook mechanism.
If the cosmetic material is a volatile cosmetic material, then the hermetic seal of the cosmetic container becomes important. There have been proposed various hermetically-sealed cosmetic containers which provide an increased hermetic sealing capability between the container housing accommodating cosmetic material therein and the outer lid for opening and closing the container housing. (See i) Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 9-37839.) Some hermetically sealed cosmetic containers include an inner lid positioned between the container housing and the outer lid to provide a sealing structure between the inner lid and the container housing. (See ii) Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 8-347 and iii) Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 9-37838.) Recent years have seen a cartridge-type refill case detachably housed in a container housing and accommodating volatile cosmetic material therein. (See iv) Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 9-65920 and v) Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 9-98829.)
Specifically, the refill case comprises an inner lid openably and closably attached to the inner tray accommodating cosmetic material therein. An elaborate sealing mechanism is disposed between the inner tray and the inner lid and an elaborate detachable attaching mechanism is used between the refill case and the container housing. There is known a detachable attaching mechanism which allows an inner tray accommodating a non-volatile cosmetic material to be detachably housed in a container housing without use of an inner lid. (See vi) Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 9-47319.) In a design having an inner lid disposed between the container housing and the outer lid, an elaborate mechanism is employed to open and close both lids because the outer and inner lids provide a double lid mechanism. (See vii) Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 8-348 and viii) Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 9-98828.)
The hermetically sealed cosmetic container shown in i) Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 9-37839 includes an annular elastic gasket disposed below the outer periphery of an opening of a cosmetic accommodating region of the container housing, and an annular ridge projecting on an inner surface of the lid. When the lid is closed, the annular ridge and the annular elastic gasket are pressed against each other below the opening of the cosmetic accommodating region. The hermetically sealed cosmetic container disclosed in ii) Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 8-347 has an annular elastic gasket of U-shaped cross section which is installed from above onto a peripheral edge of an opening of an inner tray and an elastic gasket disposed on the lid. When the lid is closed, the annular elastic gasket on the inner tray and the elastic gasket on the lid are pressed against each other. The hermetically sealed cosmetic container with the inner lid shown in iii) Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 9-37838 includes an annular elastic gasket disposed below the outer periphery of an opening of a cosmetic accommodating region of the container housing and an annular ridge projecting on an inner surface of the inner lid, as is the case with Publication i), the annular ridge and the annular elastic gasket being pressed against each other below the opening of the cosmetic accommodating region.
The cosmetic container with the refill case disclosed in iv) Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 9-65920 has the container housing divided into two portions, one as an accommodating region in which the refill case is detachably disposed, and the other as an accommodating region for cosmetic instruments. The accommodating region for detachable attachment and the cosmetic instrument accommodating region are divided by a partition wall having a recess defined in the central portion thereof, and a finger hook overhanging the inner lid is disposed in the recess and projects in the accommodating region for the cosmetic instruments. The cosmetic container with the refill case disclosed in v) Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 9-98829 has a partition wall by which the container housing is divided into two portions as is the case with Publication iv). The partition wall and an outer peripheral wall of the container housing which is confronted by the partition wall have first engaging portions on their confronting surfaces, and the refill case has second engaging portions on side surfaces thereof for disengageably engaging the first engaging portions. The refill case is fixed in position by engagement of these first and second engaging portions.
The cosmetic container with the inner tray shown in vi) Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 9-47319 has a partition wall by which the container housing is divided, one portion as an inner tray accommodating region. The inner tray has an engaging groove defined in the outer periphery thereof, and the partition wall has a first engaging tooth, which is engageable in the engaging groove, disposed on its inner surface on the side of the inner tray accommodating region. The inner surface of the inner tray accommodating region which opposes the partition wall has vertical slits extending longitudinally on both sides, defining a plurality of claws with free lower ends. The claws have second engaging teeth on the inner surface of the lower ends thereof for engagement in the engaging groove. The inner surface of the container housing between the claws serves as a holding wall having a free lower end, and the inner tray is pressed toward the first engaging tooth by a convexity on the holding wall.
The hermetically sealed cosmetic container with the inner lid shown in vii) Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 8-348 has an opening member for pushing-open the inner lid, the opening member being disposed on either one of the openable and closable end of the inner lid or the container housing. The cosmetic container with the inner lid disclosed in viii) Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 9-98828 has a single push-piece mounted on the container housing, the push-piece having a first releasing member for releasing a first hook with which the outer lid detachably engages the container housing, and a second releasing member for releasing a second hook with which the inner lid detachably engages the container housing. The first and second hooks can respectively be released with a single sliding action of the push-piece.
However, with the conventional hermetically sealed cosmetic containers disclosed in i) Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 9-37839 and iii) Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 9-37838, since the annular elastic gasket is disposed below the outer periphery of the opening of the cosmetic accommodating region of the container housing, it is necessary to define an annular recess in the outer periphery of the opening for receiving the annular elastic gasket, and hence to provide a space in which the annular recess is defined. If the container housing is to be of a certain size, then the opening is necessarily of a reduced diameter, reducing the volume of the cosmetic accommodating region, and hence, reducing the amount of the cosmetic material accommodated therein. With the hermetically sealed cosmetic container disclosed in ii) Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 8-347, the elastic gaskets are disposed on both the inner tray and the lid, and are separately formed from the inner tray and the lid. Consequently, the disclosed container is made up of an increased number of parts which further complicates the structure, and cannot efficiently be assembled.
The inner lid of the cosmetic container revealed in iv) Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 9-65920 can easily be opened by lifting the finger hook from the cosmetic instrument accommodating region since the finger hook of the inner lid is disposed in the recess in the partition wall. However, because the outer and inner lids are opened and closed by respective separate actions, the process of opening the lids is complex. The cosmetic container disclosed in v) Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 9-98829 has the partition wall as is the case with Publication iv). The first engaging portions are disposed respectively on the partition wall and the outer peripheral wall of the container housing, and the second engaging portions are disposed on the side surfaces of the inner tray to detachably engage the first engaging portions. The presence of the partition wall complicates the mold structure used to mold the container housing. Also, since the first engaging portions are disposed on the partition wall, the structure is further complex. The cosmetic container shown in vi) Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 9-47319 has the partition wall and the first and second engaging teeth. Since the second engaging teeth are disposed on the slitted claws, the structure is further complex.
With the hermetically sealed cosmetic container shown in vii) Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 8-348, the opening member for pushing open the inner lid permits the inner lid to be easily opened. However, the need for opening the outer lid and the inner lid separately makes it inefficient to open the lids. The cosmetic container revealed in viii) Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 9-98828 can easily be operated because the outer and inner lids can simultaneously be opened by a single sliding action of the push-piece with the first and second releasing members on the push-piece. It is, however, necessary to provide a space to slide the push-piece, resulting in various problems such as a corresponding increase in the size of the cosmetic container and reduction in the amount of the cosmetic material that can be accommodated therein.